Staff Engineer, Platform & Systems

Job Overview

Retell AI is using first principles to reimagine the call center with cutting-edge voice AI. Thousands of companies now utilize Retell’s AI voice agents to handle sales, support, and logistics calls that once required large teams of human agents. Backed by Y Combinator, Alt Capital, and other leading investors, we have scaled to $60M ARR with a team of 40 people, up from $5M at the start of 2025.

Our vision for 2026 is to build a modern CX platform where entire contact centers are powered by AI. Instead of basic automation that needs constant human tuning, we’re creating intelligent AI “workers” that can act as frontline agents, QA analysts, and managers — continuously executing, monitoring, and improving customer interactions.

We’re growing quickly and looking for ambitious builders who want to tackle hard technical problems, move fast, and have real impact at one of the fastest-growing voice AI startups. Let’s build the future together.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the design and evolution of core platform and systems architecture.


• Lead complex technical initiatives end-to-end, from concept to production.


• Make high-leverage technical decisions that balance speed, reliability, and scale.


• Raise the technical bar through design reviews, mentoring, and hands-on leadership.


• Partner closely with product to translate business needs into robust technical solutions.


• Identify and resolve performance, scalability, and reliability bottlenecks.


• Help define engineering best practices as we scale the team and platform.

About Retell AI

You might thrive if you have 9+ years of experience building and operating production systems. You’ve operated at Staff or Principal level (or equivalent scope), even if the title wasn’t official. You’re strong in systems design and can reason clearly about tradeoffs. You move fast but care deeply about correctness, reliability, and maintainability. You’re comfortable owning ambiguous problems and defining the path forward. You’ve built or scaled platforms used by real customers at meaningful volume. You enjoy being hands-on — writing code, reviewing designs, and unblocking teams.

Bonus points if you’ve worked with: distributed systems, Voice AI, real-time systems, APIs at scale, infra/platform work, or developer-facing products.

Why This Role

Real ownership over core systems. Direct influence on product and company direction. A small, high-caliber team with very little process drag. Problems that matter — to customers, revenue, and scale. If you want a role where your decisions visibly shape the company, this is it.

Benefits

• 100% coverage for medical, dental, and vision insurance


• $70/day DoorDash credit for unlimited breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks


• $200/month wellness reimbursement (gym, fitness classes, etc.)


• $300/month commuter reimbursement (gas, Caltrain, etc.)


• $75/month phone bill reimbursement


• $50/month internet reimbursement